Certainty & Completion
by RuthieGreen
Summary: What happens after William Julia agree to marry? (Death of Dr Ogden) I think they make love that night before coming back to Toronto to announce the wedding, & before it all gets delayed for months because of the inspector's injury (sadistic show writers that they are!) These two deserve a reward and I think their first intimacy happens then. My first official "M" story. Enjoy!


**So, what happens after William and Julia (finally!) agree to marry?**

 **This story is also what happens when I am stuck on** _ **another**_ **story - 40,000 words into it!) -teaching myself the form of first person narrative with an actual plot and mystery with Julia as the heroine, so at the suggestion of a friend, I decided to put that aside and try something different. So I chose a one-shot form and then (after trolling for encouragement –-thank you to one and all!-) adding an "M" finale. There is a small amount of editing of what I posted before in this version. I decided Julia would find sexual euphemisms abhorrent as well as silly, and I can never resist character exposition and humor so it is a little more than just (soft-core) smut… It also helps to imagine the actors delivering the lines or to hear their voices; Helene Joy occasionally gets some really bad/lame lines in the show but pulls them off anyways (great credit to her as an actor) —so channel "Julia" when you can.**

 **Certainty & Completion**

" **William Murdoch, will you do me the honor of becoming my husband?"**

" **I will,"** he replied.

" **And I so will."**

No other words were necessary. Julia put her arms around William's neck and shoulders and held him to her tightly, breathing in his scent, feeling the warmth of his cheek against hers in the crisp air. For the first time in what seemed like years she felt light and free as if her heart could lift them both and soar. All the pain and anger she vented last Fall on this very spot by the lakeshore, mired for months in her guilt and her grief, dropped away like ballast bags, one by one by one. She recalled a similar moment of happiness when they had held each other just this way all those years ago in the basket of a swaying hot air balloon, saying nothing, merely enjoying the experience of reuniting and, for once, letting go of any pretense of emotional distance between them. They had eventually clung together as the atmosphere got thinner and colder, drifting north and west away from Toronto into the countryside, finally running out of conversation and (of necessity) relinquishing a small measure of their shared future, momentarily content only to _be._ She felt that way now, wishing fervently for this moment and these feelings to stretch on indefinitely like the horizon. A flock of geese heading south sailed overhead in a noisy procession that intruded on her thoughts, and she shifted slightly to watch them fly, feeling a kinship in their freedom.

No other words were sweeter to his ears or more welcome. William's hands slipped to her small waist and pulled her closer against his body, fitting their curves together. The usual torrent of thoughts in his mind when he was around her was blessedly quiescent for once and he knew that this was finally _right_ and the way it was fated to be between them, so much of his internal conflict released from suspension and settling out. He felt grounded again and at peace. He knew that nothing ever stayed unchanged and one can never revisit exactly the same instance in time, but at present he was willing to suspend the law of physics and just revel in the sensations, hoping to memorize them before they inevitably evaporated. He identified that for at least a fleeting moment he had been afraid Julia would have refused him either because she had no inclination to marry, or even that after all this time she had no desire for a future with him, at least not the one he had envisioned for them. He even wondered if he would get the timing wrong again and she would automatically rebuff him. In retrospect, a small part of him also suspected that if she had said "no" this time he would likely never have asked her again… He was abruptly terrified of the risk he just took, and swallowed hard in recognition of it. He read somewhere that "courage was doing something even though you are afraid…" He tugged her even closer, encircling her with his arms. _Thank God_ s _he said yes,_ he sent in silent prayer.

Neither knew how long they remained thus entwined, until dusk started settling rapidly around them. William sought her arms, pulling them down from his neck and taking her hands in his, kissing the backs and palms tenderly to warm them up before cupping her face in his hands and seeking her lips with his. He kept his eyes on her face as he kissed her slowly and reverently, feeling gratified as her blue eyes closed and she gave herself over to him, melting against him in evident pleasure. Then he felt her rouse herself to kiss him back more firmly, grazing her tongue gently over his before breaking the contact.

Julia then put her hands on his chest and separated them a few inches, drew a breath and smiled. He leaned his forehead on hers and smiled back. "William Murdoch?" she asked.

"Yes, Julia Ogden?" he answered.

She took his hand in hers and squeezed. "This will be my last night in this house and we are going to get married. Let's celebrate!" And laughing she pulled him along towards the house, running to the porch and in the screen door, and he let himself laugh joyously right along with her.

"What did you have in mind?" he asked when they got inside, needing to catch his breath from the short romp. The house was dark and cold. He checked his watch and was surprised at the time. _Getting back to Toronto tonight is going to be difficult_ , he thought.

"I think it is a special occasion, don't you?" she asked. "I know just the thing. You make a fire and I am going to rummage in the larder." She kissed him again. "I will be right back!"

Still grinning, William poked his head into the parlour to investigate the condition of the fireplace, went outside for two armloads of wood and set to starting the fire. He brought a couch and small table close to the hearth. The fire was well along, smelling of apple wood, when Julia came back in with a table cloth, some bread and cheese and a couple jars of preserves. She set them down and brought another tray out with glasses and two bottles.

"So, William. We have our choice. Absinthe or Champagne." When he looked at her quizzically she continued. "When I was here last Fall and Winter I went through most of the liquor cabinet. These two I could not find a taste for…" She let the rest of the explanation slide, as William reached for the champagne.

"This one, I think." He took out his penknife and skillfully opened the bottle, spilling only a little as he directed the pale liquid to the glasses, and set the bottle next to the repast on the table.

Julia produced a leather book and also placed it on the table. "I brought my calendar so we can pick a wedding date." She opened the book and flipped some pages. "How soon is too soon? Or how about New Year's Eve or New Year's Day? That way you will always remember our anniversary," she teased. William gave a mock grimace but eagerly scanned the dates, running other obligations and his current cases through his head and thinking that a simple ceremony at the court house as soon as possible was preferable, and, that he could or would ever forget the date he married her was patently absurd. His pleasure overflowed and he could feel his cheeks ache a little from smiling so much.

"I was hoping for sooner rather than later…." He gave what he thought of as a winning smile and looked up at her from under his lashes, well aware that gesture had a particular effect on her. "A small wedding party followed perhaps by a feast…or a dance? I, er, don't know much about weddings…" William shrugged. "We can invite our mutual friends, of course…Julia, how much time does it take to plan a wedding?"

"I have no interest in an elaborate wedding, and I think as a modern couple we can plan whatever we agree on. I cannot imagine anything that would get in the way now. So, let's look at dates…" Julia picked up her pencil and pushed the calendar so they both could see it better by the fire light. William got up and lit a lamp for good measure.

They sat together, still wrapped in their coats, and William was about to propose a toast when he noticed a shadow cross the happiness that had been on Julia's face, dampening his elation somewhat. He thought he knew what it meant, probably about her father, but wanted to be sure.

"Julia? What are you thinking?" he asked.

She surprised him with her answer. "Did you know that Canada geese mate for life?" She just looked at him, saying nothing else.

" _Branta Canadensis Interiori_ or _Branta Canadensis Maxima_? Most mate again after a few years when they lose their partner, although there have been some who never do…." he went on out of habit then stopped himself. He was confused. "Julia…I don't understand…some things go without saying…" He halted and tried to figure out what she was driving at. "…But that has been the problem all along between us, hasn't it? Too much unsaid? What are you...?"

She interrupted him, surprising him again. "William, I love you. I am _so_ in love with you….I am so in love with you it frightens me sometimes," she reached for his arms and grabbed them for emphasis. "And I almost never say this to you. I may have told other people that I love you more than I have ever said it to you…isn't that ridiculous?" She stroked the side of his face with her hand, felt tears starting and wiped her eyes before leaning in and kissing him again, fiercely.

"Indeed." William forgot all about the champagne and brought her closer to him, hungrily accepting her passionate embrace. She had almost never told him, outright, she loved him or was in love with him, and hearing it from her now produced an incredible feeling in his whole being. It took him a while to come up for air, his mind spinning again.

"Julia. What are you asking?" _Dear Lord, not even a few hours of contentment!…_ He sat her back and faced her, speaking carefully. "Julia, I love you. I will always love you. You are the only women in the world for me." He took her face again in his hand, brushing stray curls away that glowed as the fire back-lit her hair. "But I will only marry once in my lifetime, of that I am also quite convinced." He thought about what to say next and how to say it. "And like Darcy, I will never agree to divorce, although for entirely different reasons than he had. At one time I thought it was because he still loved you…. Be that as it may, please understand that I will treat our civil marriage the same as if we had married in church and our vows were sealed by a priest and before God. You must realize that…" He held his breath without knowing it, locking his brown eyes on hers as if he could _will_ her response.

"Oh, William, I do know that!" Julia looked away and pulled a stiff leather bookmark from her calendar. He let out his breath when he recognized it, and gazed at her in amazement.

Julia held it in her left hand and traced the tooling with her right, then handed it to him. He said, "I thought it had gotten lost or misplaced…" and he blushed a little before handing it back. "I never…"

"You had put it in a book you borrowed from the morgue, and when you were out of work one time or the other I needed the reference manual back, so the inspector allowed me to retrieve it from your office. I never knew if you meant to surprise me with it or not…but I chose to keep it none the less. I have always had it, William, close to me all these years." She traced her initials ' _ **J. O**_.' on the top and the inscribed ' _ **1st Corinthians 13:1-13**_ ' along the bottom edges.

"William, you made this for me, probably sometime in '96 or thereabouts. You were going to put your initials on it too, weren't you? See… you left room…" She pointed at the remaining space, and smiled at him. He nodded, slightly embarrassed at the school-boy sentiment.

"Yes…yes, I suppose I was." He looked at her and spoke softly. " _'_ _Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing….'"_

Julia continued, also from memory. " _'Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails…'_ You have never failed me William." Her eyes shone, some drops coursed down her cheeks.

He kissed the tears off her face and then finished: " ' _And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.'"_ He paused _._ "Julia, these words might as well be my vows to you…." He searched her face again. "I need you to be sure, _very_ sure, you want to marry me…'till death do us part."

Instead of answering, she took off her coat, picked up the glasses, handed one to him and brought the other up for a toast. She clinked her glass rim with his and downed the drink, her eyes never leaving his face. He copied her, shedding his coat now that the fire was throwing sufficient heat, studying her just as intently as he sipped while a knot popped in the grate and showered the hearth screen with sparks.

"William, what if…what if after all…what if after everything we have been through, we end up incompatible? Or that Mrs Brackenreid is right…that the passion fades, or that we do not please one another?" She said this sincerely he noticed, but with a new quirk in her smile.

He poured another glass of champagne for each of them. "Julia, everyone has a breaking point, but it is exactly because of what we have been through that I am optimistic. I am not a complete fool nor naïve, but I know how I feel about you and I thought I knew how you felt…" He noticed his tension was ebbing, a crisis perhaps avoided. He could not imagine any of her fears coming true; in fact his imagination had rehearsed quite the opposite, so frequently and so thoroughly that he was more than prepared to do whatever was necessary to allay her fears.

She drank her second glass down and encouraged him to do the same. He also drained his glass and set it beside hers. She put her fingers behind his head, threading through his hair and pulled him over to rest against her. "Make love to me William, now, tonight. " She moved to bring their faces close and kissed him deeply, insistently, for a good long while.

This was not at all what he expected. "What about waiting until our wedding night?" he managed to ask.

"William, you _do_ want me to be sure?" Julia offered coquettishly, now with a wicked smile on her lips.

"Julia, are you having me audition for the role of your lover?" He returned in pseudo-indignation, his facial expression quickly replaced by a wolfish look of desire.

"Every good theory eventually needs to be tested, William. That is the scientific principle," she answered.

"Are you finally going to have your way with me?" he asked, in between caresses.

"I think that is a perfectly fine idea…" she sighed.

"Nothing is ever perfect, milady, but if you need to increase your level of certainty…" He pulled her onto his lap to make a better exploration of her mouth with his, until she drew away, panting.

"And, William, an experiment needs to be replicatable to be valid…" Her breath caught has he ran his tongue delicately along her throat and up under her ear, and his hand swept her rib cage, temporarily rendering her speechless.

"Mmm… three data points in fact to document a trend," he whispered in her ear.

"More data does make it a more reliable indicator…." She said as she pulled out his collar studs and loosened his tie.

"Julia, I hope you also understand there is no going back. Once we start…once you and I are lovers I will not want to stop. Assuming the experiment is successful, of course…"

"Of course, William, if successful…"

"We will marry soon, very soon, no delays, agreed?" William went back to kissing her neck, closing his eyes in concentration.

"Certainly. Now, about me having my way with you…" Julia was about to make her move, when William's eyes flew open.

"Er…is the door locked?" he asked, laughing, which started her giggling.

She got up and secured the door. He stood also, waiting for her to come back to the fire, and wrapped her in his arms when she returned.

"Now, where were we…?" Julia asked as she stepped further into his embrace.

"You were having your way with me…." he said as he offered his now bare neck to her for her delectation, his eyes hooded and unfocused, and she noted his carotid pulse beating rapidly.

"Why yes. I'd be delighted!" Julia nipped his neck every so softly as her right hand fell to his waist, and she weighed whether or not she would slide it over his hip and down his backside or travel flat down the inner aspect of his left thigh in a long, slow, firm stroke. _I wonder if William would be shocked to know how many times I thought about this before…_ _Delighted indeed…_

# # #

Julia felt his pulse throb under her tongue and set a series of feather-light kisses along its trajectory. She experienced a thrill of anticipation mixed with a small shiver of fear about venturing into this unknown territory with William. He was at least superficially aware of (most of) her sexual past, however he had never so much as hinted a single detail about his own to her. _He certainly knows his way around a passionate kiss and sensual caress,_ she thought. _He also keeps his own counsel… so if he has had lovers…_ Jealousy briefly flared. _Anna?.. possibly. Ettie? … I don't want to think about that. Enid?...unlikely considering he broke it off with her. Others? I would be the last to know._ She sighed.

 _If I asked him directly I think he would tell me…he would not like it but he would not prevaricate._ She set that aside-she wanted no others in the room with them, not tonight.

Julia returned to her objective and brought her attention back to William, warm and present, right in front of her in the present moment. She noted his breathing remained steady and strong and his hands dropped to rest lightly on her hips, allowing her to control the distance between them. Her left hand found the back of his neck and brought their lips together for a sweet soft kiss, a little taste of champagne lingering there. Her fingers itched to touch him.

She moved her right hand to his abdomen and then down along his trouser fly, reaching her fingers for his inseam and downwards to the full extension of her arm. His hands twitched on her hips but he only adjusted his stance slightly to give her better access as she investigated, albeit somewhat indirectly, his stiffening penis. She brought her hand back up the same slow, steady path and she thought he might have leaned into it a bit, but kept himself open, loose and receptive. She deepened the kiss and he responded in equal measure, seemingly content to let her lead this particular dance. She brought them closer, pressing herself fully up against him (as much as her clothing would allow) and sucked on his tongue gently while tracing her fingers on his neck and then down his vest, finding his nipples through the stiff fabric of his shirt, vest and undergarment and stroking them with her thumbs.

"Hold me," she asked him, and he brought his arms around her and his hands fanned out on her back, the kisses more passionate and hungry, both of them breathing more heavily now.

"William," she said with a smile as she broke away, "I want to see what I am getting. You need to take your clothing off."

"Doctor, I would have thought with your vast expertise in anatomy you would already b…" His attempt at levity was interrupted by swat from a pillow in Julia's hand and a good-natured glare from her blue eyes. He stood there, grinning mildly as she gestured at him to start disrobing. He hesitated briefly, natural modesty and intrigue in a private war, then shrugged, deciding to go along with the game and pushed the table with its forgotten meal to the side, grabbed two hard-backed chairs to use as a silent valet and started with his tie and cufflinks which he relocated along with his collar studs to an inside pocket of his jacket.

His watch came off next, which he placed on the mantel. Julia poured the last of the champagne in her glass and sat and sipped while viewing William's movements. She wondered if this was his usual divestment ritual she was getting to see for the first time. His actions were neat and precise with economy of motion, something she had come to love so much about him over the years, admiring his hands as they worked by the fire light. She saw he hesitated slightly again after getting his vest then jacket over the back of one chair, but brought his hands up to loosen his braces so he could doff his shirt.

Julia finished the wine and stood, coming to him to halt his hands as they reached his top shirt button. "No, I think I want to do that," she said with what she hoped was a sultry look. He nodded and brought his hands to rest on her forearms as her nimble fingers undid each button and pulled his shirt up out of his trousers and down his arms. She placed the shirt over the other chair back and then helped him pull his undershirt off. Heat radiated from him that had nothing to do with the fire behind him.

She sought his chest with her hands, first brushing his arms, pectorals and abdominals with a firm hand while enumerating the various muscles her fingers outlined, and then locating and tracing his various scars. "My goodness, William, you have gotten pretty beaten up over the years," she commented, before bestowing a lingering kiss on each one. She has seen most of the injuries singularly while treating him for the wounds, but never the lasting scars before, and never in their totality. She shivered a little. _How deadly each could have been for him, due to infection alone…_

She abruptly shook herself out of that thought and gave each of his nipples some attention with her mouth and tongue. He hummed a little noise as she did so, his hands rising to touch her and his breath hitching a little. She backed off and looked at him critically, before returning to her task of getting William out of his attire. The shadows complimented and created a more sculpted look to his muscles. He was not as lithe and fit as when they first met, but maturity looked very good on him, and not for the first time she reveled in how very _male_ he was.

"Shoes," she ordered. She watched him bend from the waist and loosen the laces, setting the shoes and then socks under one chair. _Very flexible,_ she thought, also admiring the curve of his _gluteus maximus_. There were only two pieces of clothing left. She could not tell if he was excited or embarrassed, but his gaze, eyes darkened significantly, never left her.

She moved in closer, stroking him again through his remaining clothing, his arousal tenting the fabric while he appeared to calmly accept her ministrations. She thought he was either showing that he was surrendering his will to her or giving a master class in his legendary self-control. Her own desire was rocketing up rapidly and she was starting to wonder if this slow and measured seduction was going to be able to last, if _she_ would be able to last while she got wetter and ached for him. _And I am still in all my clothes!_

She thought about all the fantasies she ever had about making love with him: sweet and romantic, fierce and primal, she controlling the pace and pleasure, she surrendering utterly….

"William?"

"Yes?"

"If I asked you to take off your clothes and lay on the cushions on the floor so I can pleasure you, would you do that?"

He hesitated only for a heartbeat or two. "Yes."

"Why?" she asked, wondering now what was actually passing between them.

"Because you wish it…" It came out more of a half question and half statement, and the calmness with which he was going along with her game vanished when he looked at the expression that was now on her face. "Julia, I thought…."

"Oh, William, I am so sorry!" She came over and hugged him, and after a moment he put his bare arms around her again.

"Julia, what in the devil…?" William, who had been biddable and curious where this had been going, was now frustrated and more than a little concerned it had all been a very bad idea.

"William, this was _my_ fantasy…well one of them. Our first time should set the precedent for the rest. Was this how you imagined it to be?"

"Er, no, I suppose not…but it was certainly not unpleasant…" He smiled again to show no hard feelings, but his confusion washed over his face.

She came close, kissed him and touched his face, feeling the roughness of his unshaven skin. "You just demonstrated so much trust in me William, I am so grateful. You would have let me have control…"

"If it made you happy. If it …aroused you… I always believed it was a gentleman's responsibility and pleasure to properly prepare his lover to receive him…" This time he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her in close, finding an area of décolletage to kiss. Letting his hands drop to her buttocks, he lifted her subtly off her feet.

Julia tried that moment to engage him in a serious conversation. "William, we have been friends..."

"Yes…"

"Colleagues…"

"Mmm mmm…"

"Partners…."

"Uh hunnn…"

"We are going to be man and wife…"

"Yep….soon…"

"William! Pay attention! You are distracting me…"

William's head snapped up but he said evenly, " _Julia Ogden_! You are the most frustrating creature God ever put on this earth, and I will put my clothing on and _walk_ back to Toronto tonight if you don't get to the point!"

She bracketed his face with her hands. "Our first time should be as equals, William. As equals. _Our_ first time." Julia caught his eyes and held them until she saw that her statement registered with him. He put her down and leaned his forehead against hers, calming his breath.

She continued. "We are going to argue and fight, and tussle over many things in our life together, William. You can count on that—the past is prologue, eh?" Humor infused her voice and he chuckled in return. "You and I have been negotiating about one thing or another since we met. I have a sharp tongue and am occasionally impulsive and you can be overbearing, but oh, William…when we work together, put our minds together, it is something special, is it not?"

He sighed and smiled at her. "Yes, milady, that is the truth. I am always… better _with_ you. I never feel more… _alive_ , than when I am working out something with you." He kissed her, caressing her cheeks with the backs of his fingers.

"I feel the same way about you…"

He gave her a knowing look, then he made a pointed gesture around the room and between them, saying, "Can you imagine negotiating all of this… _any of this…_ on our wedding night?" and watched as Julia started sputtering with giggles. He joined her until they both laughed themselves into a heap on the couch.

After recovering he turned to her and took her in his arms, planting a fond kiss on her head and then a more sensual one on her lips. "Julia, is there a bed in this house we could commandeer?" he asked.

Julia looked at him with some surprise, assuming the romantic mood was broken. _Or he came to his senses_. "William Murdoch, have I told you lately that I love you?"

"Well, I can't reach my watch, but I would guess maybe thirty minutes ago…" He resumed kissing her, feeling more confident now the tension between them was balanced out with humor. _This woman will be the death of me, I swear! But if she thinks I am going to turn down the opportunity to enjoy her tonight, she has another "think" coming...I have already learned my lesson there..._

After a few more moments Julia pushed herself away from his embrace, and saying nothing, rose, grabbed the lamp and took his hand, pulling him along up the stairs. On the second floor, she led him to the front room which had a spectacular view of the lake, moonlight reflecting off a wind-shimmered water surface and streaming into the space and across a large bed. William took the lamp from her and with a paper twist, lit the other room lights and started a new fire in the grate.

"I want to see what I am getting, too. So, Julia, let us reset the parameters of this experiment." He inspected her in the soft light. "I think you are wearing too many pieces of clothing, don't you? And to be fair and all, I should get to remove some of them."

Julia nodded and came within his arms reach and allowed him to remove her short jacket and belt. He went to work on her blouse buttons, placing a kiss on the space created by the gap in the fabric as each was undone, inhaling her woodsy perfume as he went, all the way to her waist and then one kiss on each of her wrists, his lips creating sparks on her flesh, racing her pulse. He slid the blouse off and hung it next to her jacket on a wall peg. He thought about the corset but she stopped him.

"The skirt and shoes," she whispered.

She felt William reach behind her and unlatch the waist band, unhook the hooks, and her skirt, then petticoat, flowed down her legs and to the floor where she stepped out of them, and then took her shoes off. This time she draped the skirt over a chair and came back to William by the hearth. With shoes off, she was no longer his height, and had to reach up to bring her lips to his. "Now we do this together," and with that she helped him unlace the corset.

The silk ties slipped easily through his fingers and she held the garment up while he examined her stockings. William knelt and it took him only a small moment to figure out the garters and unleash them, rolling the black silk slowly down her legs and, picking up each foot, pulled the stockings off. Her hands kneaded his scalp and grasped the back of his neck while she made a purring sound. On the way back up he dropped small love bites on her flesh, aware of the new and intoxicating scent of her arousal, and ran his hands along the backs of her legs from ankle to her buttocks and squeezed there as he bent to kiss the top of her left breast. The intake hiss of her breath told him he was on the right track.

Then he slid his fingers between the whalebone and her chemise to open the space to allow her corset to drop away from her waist and she stepped out of that and pushed it aside. William ran his hands firmly along her liberated abdomen and cupped her breasts, releasing a sigh from Julia. "Oh, my, that feels so good," she breathed, closing her eyes and swaying forward against him.

"Yes, indeed it does," he murmured, and explored her flesh through the thin fabric, feeling her ribs and spine, kissing her nipples beneath the garment. He settled his left leg to separate hers, deliberately pushing his penis to rest snuggly between her thighs and kissed the creamy expanse of skin where her neck and shoulder met.

She brought her right leg up to wrap him closer, pressing her pelvis into him with a moan and biting his shoulder. She was throbbing from wanting him to touch her and fill her inside. When she released him from her teeth and said, "William, let's get all the rest of this off. Think of it as like unwrapping a present."

They stepped a pace apart, and he pulled her chemise over her head and then she opened his trousers and they pooled around his ankles. He was almost too distracted to pick them up and fold them properly, and did it hastily, not taking his eyes from Julia's. She pushed his underwear off his hips and to the floor for him to step out of and he followed by undoing the drawstring of her knickers and helped her remove them, until they were both finally naked, bathed in firelight and moon light…gold and silver.

She thought he was magnificent… Beautifully proportioned and powerfully-built torso and limbs, _pleasing genitalia_ , she noted with anticipation… Attractive with his hair mussed and without his customary attire covering it all up—a virile male of the species with nearly symmetrical features and reflected glints of light in his deep brown eyes. No man had ever looked at her the way he was looking at her now, in love and lust for someone whom she thought of as an over-tall, under-endowed, gangly woman. He made her feel beautiful and cherished.

He thought she looked radiant, more gorgeous than his imagination ever conjured- slender, elegant, athletic, long neck and legs like a dancer—his visual memory recording every square inch. He stepped forward for the final touch of removing her hair pins and allowing the tresses to fall over her shoulders. She made him feel… _whole_ in a way no one and nothing else ever could. The meaning of breathtaking was apparently not poetic license—he could not breathe while gazing at her, every curve and dimple, the aureoles of her breasts, the tilt of her hips, and for a second or two he lost all awareness that he was naked in front of her, his awe rapidly replaced by driving desire to possess her.

 _Oh, her hips…and her_ _legs_ _…!_ His legs nearly buckled at the thought of him resting between hers. "Best. Present. Ever." He whispered in her ear as he found the last hair pin. His mouth was dry and he mastered a tremble as he brought his mouth down to cover hers with a deep kiss.

Julia was rapidly losing her ability to reason while in his embrace. She withdrew her mouth from his and told him: "No William, _that_ is coming next."

She led him to the bed, opened the covers and invited him in first before joining him in the cold sheets. The heat he was giving off had not abated, and she basked in it, pressing herself against him. In her rush to touch him she almost forgot herself and halted just in time, asking "May I?" and getting a throaty "Yes, please…" before she finally got to feel the velvety soft skin of his hard penis, dragging her short nails lightly up the thick shaft and back down to pet his scrotum then circling him again with her long fingers and pulling gently from root to sensitive top.

This elicited a sharp gasp of pleasure from William and his right hand drew up between her legs to touch her wet folds, stopping just before reaching there, seeking permission to reciprocate. She managed an affirmative noise as their lips met in a molten kiss. She shifted her position to help his fingers brush her clitoris when gliding in, sending the most amazing currents of ecstasy shooting through her. Her back arched involuntarily and she could not suppress groaning his name. His hips bucked in response to the sounds she made and his own guttural satisfaction escaped him while they explored each other anew for a moment. She discovered the noise of his pleasure heightened her excitement too.

"Now what, my love?" he asked in a low, almost-growl when he found his voice.

It took her a while longer to refocus. "William, say that again?"

"Now what?"

"No, the 'my love' part."

"Julia, loving you is the most wonderful, _painful_ thing I have ever done in my life and I would not trade it for the world... I have also been frightened by the power of our connection, and to lose it, losing you … unbearable." He paused, extracting his fingers from her to stroke the points of her hips and circle her belly button.

"Hush… We belong together, we always have. Right now we are going to make love with each other, the physical connection that ties everything else up with it. I want you inside me. Now." When she saw his face change with worry she laughed. "William, how can you doubt that I am, "prepared", as you so gallantly put it? I have been well-prepared for years, certainly in my imagination. Women's sexual urges are just as strong as men's. Only mental discipline, vigorous exercise and cold baths have kept me from becoming a more dedicated female version of an onanist! Besides, surely you want…" He cut her off with a kiss.

"Too much talking…" He had never visualized Julia pleasuring herself before, putting her fingers where he longed to be, and thinking wantonly about him while doing so… and when that thought struck like a bolt it sped up his heart and respirations and sent a new surge through his loins that brought pain and pleasure to his manhood and stretched his already precarious hold on sanity. _Was it at all possible she had desired me as much as I ever did her?_

He quickly rolled on top of her, supporting his weight with his forearms and used his hips and legs to spread her knees. He slowed down a bit when he locked his eyes on hers and then bent his head for a kiss. He looked up again, searching her face, seeking the mental connection that was the foundation of their relationship. They were both flushed, wide-eyed and smiling. He appreciated the fan of her hair on the pillow, her face framed in moonlight, and her smell mixed with the scent of the wood fire in a way that drove him mad. _Hers. I am going to be hers and she will be mine._

"Julia…?"

"Yes, William, please…" She nodded, reached down and positioned him to enter her, getting the tip of his penis lubricated by her fluids. He kept his eyes on her, synching their breathing which was now deep and steady. He licked his lips and slid inside her very slowly and smoothly, moving in a little and pausing, backing out a little and then pressing in a little further, over and over again, in a stately rhythm timed by their shared breath, keeping them wet and silky and allowing her to open and accommodate him. She moved her hands from his face to his shoulders and then his back as they rocked on the hard mattress, the surface beneath them making each stroke count. The feeling of being inside her was overwhelmingly sensual and her movements mirrored his to enhance his pleasure, every pump of her pelvis bringing him closer to putting his full length inside her, something he ardently wanted.

Julia felt the tension building insistently inside her, surprised at the swiftness with which it was overtaking her. When she put her legs around him to complete the connection she was rewarded with yet another pleasant burst in her solar plexus as he said "Oh, yes," and his eyes closed briefly while her vaginal muscles contract around him.

They stayed that way, enjoying the sensations and a long, fierce kiss. Julia could not prevent herself from wriggling in pleasure and then for a very short while they took turns surrendering control of the pace of movement. The back and forth exchange was very satisfying, accompanied by murmurs of appreciation and a mock-wrestling match about who was going to be on top. She surprised him by using leverage to tip them over, despite his superior size and weight. Upright, she rode him gently, explaining with a smile she was giving his old body a brief respite. He took no offense. Seeing her above him, crowned by a frizz of hair, highlighted by the moon and undulating her hips against his manhood was the most erotic thing he had ever experienced, prefect for a man who was wired the unique way he was; the title, _Goddess_ , flitting through his blasphemous brain.

She ceded power to him and he put her back to the mattress again, setting them to a hypnotic rhythm. Her feet began to burn, and everywhere William touched her, her skin nearly sang with joy. What was customarily for her, a more localized sensation of sexual feelings, now possessed her entire body-a totally new experience she relished with abandon. _So this is what it can be like to have sexual relations with the man you're in love with…_ Each exquisite thrust pushed her rapidly and easily to her pinnacle and then inexorably she ignited, heart pounding and breath altering of its own accord as she started to come undone—nothing capable of stopping her from reaching her completion.

William would have tried to keep this going for hours, feeling like he had the stamina of a twenty year old instead of his forty years. His heart, mind _and_ body were on fire. Looking at her with overpowering love, connected in this way, he thought the entire universe consisted only of the two of them and the present moments, breath to breath, heartbeat to heartbeat, and it felt unspeakably _good._ He could not explain it if he tried, and for once he needed no other rationation.

Without prelude, he noted a distinctive change come over Julia, saw her face flush a deeper color, her breathing change… and hearing her moan caused his own desire to ratchet up even tighter. It happened so quickly it took him a little by surprise, but awareness of her impending climax set his loose, ungoverned, his own heart racing and lungs pumping air in and out with a new pattern.

"Oh, my... Don't stop," she asked, as waves of a building orgasm rolled through her body in complete harmony with his plunges inside her.

"I…can't," he gasped out, having given himself completely over to whatever his body demanded he do in service of what was about to happen next.

"Harder," she begged, clutching at him, no longer able to hold his gaze and no longer able to breathe.

He obliged, his awareness see-sawing between his pleasure and hers. A primal keening sound erupted from Julia's throat while her inner muscles grabbed and pulsed over him during her climax, her pelvis beating her buttocks more rapidly against the mattress. This forced a deep long moan out of him as he let go, spending himself with her like a thunderclap; completely emptying his mind as he emptied his seed in a series of jolts inside her.

They kept it up until nether could stand it anymore. Once sated, they lay there, chests heaving, frantically kissing as the sensations slowly, oh-so-slowly, ebbed. William floated in amazement, his body tingling and his mind free, a unique and unexpected experience for him. He cuddled her in the crook of his arm, sighing and laughing in delight, with Julia following suit, unable to keep a wide grin off her face.

When he collected himself he said softly: "Thank you, Julia, you were right. Equal partners, together…"

"Oh my god, William…that was…" her statement was interrupted by delightful left-over aftershocks she was happily enjoying. She looked over at him, his eyes half closed and fringed with thick lashes, hair in thorough disarray. _A positively smug expression on his face,_ she thought, and added, _Well-deserved smugness,_ to herself, her heart beating faster again.

"Julia… it's been a while…"

He gave her a happy, casual leer, and for a moment she thought he was going to finish by telling her how long since he'd had relations _with some other woman._ She was about to object when he added "…Since you told me you loved me. And by the way, there will be no more auditions for the role of your lover," he grabbed a handful of her thigh, "I have that privilege now and I will defend it."

She placed her head over his heart and draped herself over him, trying to get as much skin-to-skin contact as their bodies would allow. "William Murdoch, I love you more than I can ever express…never forget that." After a few moments she had a new thought and narrowed her eyes at him. "Will you be going to confession?" she asked.

"Yes. I usually do. Twice a week if I can. But why are you asking, er, asking me now?"

"Will you confess to sinful relations outside of marriage with me?"

"No."

She was taken aback. "Why not?"

"Because confession requires remorse for your sins and a promise to go and sin no more." He looked at her with a side-long glance and half-smile. "I will not lie to Father Clemens …and I am pretty sure he would not believe me…besides, I think he will just _know_ , anyways. He reads me all too well. It is why we play chess and not poker." He paused. "I think rather he will be happy for me, even at the risk of my immortal soul. Do you know my former priest, Father Faire, actually encouraged me to pursue a relationship with you? A heathen non-believer?" He said with a twinkle.

She swatted him. "William Murdoch, I am not a heathen!" she said and laughed.

"Close enough, my love, close enough. Come here…" He pulled her tighter in a loving embrace and sighed into her hair with a smile. "He told me it might be my task to bring you back to God, if you can believe that!"

She laughed and then got serious. "William…I have often pushed you…being with me has often gone against your values, your faith…" Julia approached the topic carefully.

"Hush. Never mind Julia. Between arguing with you, my priests and my conscience it all has changed me, but if anything, I am stronger in my faith. I have changed for the better and happily so…" He let his hand trail along her side, flow over her hip and back up her flat stomach to gently cup her breast.

Julia felt herself stirring again with desire. She snuck a hand to his penis which was already holding itself in an aroused arch. "William, do you want to go again?" she asked as she stroked him, surprised by his recuperation time.

He let her play with him for a minute, savoring the pleasure it brought him, making little pleasure sounds. "I love you so much. I am the happiest man in the world at this moment and I am still enjoying what we just did, so I do not think it is wise to spoil that singularity." He stilled her hand with some regret.

Julia found herself agreeing with the wisdom and subsided softly against him.

William continued. "Right now, my love, all I want to do is lie here with you, feel your heartbeat, hear your breathing, see the moon set and maybe the dawn rise together." He kissed her nose, then mouth, sweeping his lashes against her cheeks. "There is also the serious matter of completing our experiment…" He kissed her tenderly again, running his tongue along her lips to taste them and hopefully excite her a little. "And when I can think again we will be picking a wedding date. Soon!Agreed?"

"Agreed. And when I can _walk_ again I will get the calendar. There should be something available in the next month don't you think?" Julia giggled and went back to holding him contentedly, thinking about their upcoming wedding, with a small part of her gleefully plotting their next opportunity for making love.

 _What could possibly go wrong?_

 _END_

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Dear Reader: Hope you liked the ride! Feedback encouraged and welcome -rg


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